Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits

Phoenix, AZ had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 44 cities in 2022, at 3,982. Nogales, AZ had the lowest, at 12. The median was 248. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest3,982Phoenix, AZ

Lowest12Nogales, AZ

Median24844 cities

All cities, 2022

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	Phoenix, AZ Estimated	3,982	-19.1%
2	Surprise, AZ Estimated	2,228	-17%
3	Buckeye, AZ Estimated	2,193	-16.2%
4	Mesa, AZ Estimated	1,536	-24.9%
5	Queen Creek, AZ Estimated	1,396	-36.4%
6	Avondale, AZ Estimated	1,393	+88%
7	Maricopa, AZ Estimated	1,284	-30.4%
8	Goodyear, AZ Estimated	1,220	-38.2%
9	Casa Grande, AZ Estimated	1,167	-24.2%
10	Marana, AZ Estimated	949	-24.2%
11	Tucson, AZ Estimated	918	-19%
12	Gilbert, AZ Estimated	782	-46.8%
13	Scottsdale, AZ Estimated	624	+12.8%
14	Prescott Valley, AZ Estimated	567	+6.2%
15	Peoria, AZ Estimated	466	-70.2%
16	Sahuarita, AZ Estimated	452	-15.2%
17	Coolidge, AZ Estimated	404	-36%
18	Glendale, AZ Estimated	379	-46.8%
19	Lake Havasu City, AZ Estimated	347	-12.4%
20	Yuma, AZ Estimated	323	-48.6%
21	Bullhead City, AZ Estimated	297	-25.4%
22	Kingman, AZ Estimated	259	-25.6%
23	San Luis, AZ Estimated	237	-7.1%
24	El Mirage, AZ Estimated	221	+1,909.1%
24	Eloy, AZ Estimated	221	-26.6%
26	Prescott, AZ Estimated	219	-42.8%
27	Chandler, AZ Estimated	203	-69.7%
28	Oro Valley, AZ Estimated	198	-41.8%
29	Show Low, AZ Estimated	174	-13%
30	Flagstaff, AZ Estimated	129	-37.4%
31	Fountain Hills, AZ Estimated	107	-40.9%
32	Tempe, AZ Estimated	102	-17.1%
33	Apache Junction, AZ Estimated	101	-57.6%
34	Payson, AZ Estimated	95	-4%
35	Florence, AZ Estimated	91	-76.4%
36	Paradise Valley, AZ Estimated	81	-27%
37	Chino Valley, AZ Estimated	79	-12.2%
38	Cottonwood, AZ Estimated	62	-20.5%
39	Sierra Vista, AZ Estimated	52	-5.5%
40	Camp Verde, AZ Estimated	28	+27.3%
41	Safford, AZ Estimated	20	-33.3%
41	Somerton, AZ Estimated	20	-39.4%
43	Douglas, AZ Estimated	14	+7.7%
44	Nogales, AZ Estimated	12	-7.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Annual number of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures (detached and attached single-family homes) authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Part of building_permit_units, which also counts units in buildings with two or more units. Counts housing units, not starts, completions or sales.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_arizona_by_2022,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2022. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West\%20Region/we2022a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Arizona by single-family housing units authorized by building permits, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/02
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/arizona-cities?period=2022.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2022a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which city has the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits?

Phoenix, AZ, with 3,982 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest single-family housing units authorized by building permits?

Nogales, AZ, with 12 in 2022.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.